Show Notes
Will York of Thunder Road Guitars PDX joins us to tell the real story behind one of the West Coast's favorite guitar shops.
Before Thunder Road Portland became a destination for vintage guitar weirdos, touring players, local lifers, and anyone who enjoys staring at old offsets under flattering lighting, Will was a Gainesville, Florida kid chasing music any way he could. That road eventually led him west to Lollar Pickups, then to Thunder Road in Seattle, and finally to opening the Portland shop in 2017.
This episode gets into the unglamorous, deeply human side of building a guitar store: living in the basement of the first shop, putting every penny into the business, surviving the COVID guitar boom, buying a commercial building, learning when to delegate, and navigating a major open-heart surgery scare right in the middle of it all.
We also talk vintage guitar shows, rare finds, the difference between selling new and vintage gear, why guitar stores should actually feel welcoming, and why Will still believes the whole thing works best when everyone remembers how lucky we are to play with this stuff for a living.
Plus: gold-hardware Jaguars, first-year Jazzmasters, Paul Bigsby lore, TK Smith guitars, Boss pedals, Portland pizza, and a very important reminder that nobody regrets buying the guitar. Selling it? Different story.
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